There aren't really many surprises when it comes to ayaka. Even based on the single's cover art alone you can pretty much tell that this shit is gonna be good, and damn right it is. beautiful is more or less the usual ballad affair from ayaka with gospel elements added in as well. This is when the unavoidable pun comes in - it's beautiful! There is a consistent build-up throughout the song and the instrumental bridge is what makes this song especially amazing imo. Chiisana no Ashiato brings about something different for ayaka to try out. It's an uplifting song with a rather playful arrangement combining military drums, the flute, violins that work really well for her, so this is something unexpected coming from ayaka. Hajimari no Toki English ver. is a nice addition to the single, but nothing really impressive. It uses a piano instrumental instead of the original which I don't really like but I guess I appreciate her effort in trying out Engrish lol

7/10

Mirai no Museum

I'm not gonna lie - I'm not here for Mirai no Shitseum. I understand that it's a tie-in for a Doraemon movie, but they should've just released this as a digital single or something. This literally gave me goosebumps and it's not because it's good. It's terrible. I hope the producers of Doraemon delete Perfume's numbers and never contact them again. Daijo Banai saves the single, but barely. It's a watered down version of Nee without any climax whatsoever. I do like it, but given its repetitiveness, like Communication, I will probably tire of it in 3 hours. The area in which I give fucks about this release is so empty, I didn't even realise the single was already released!

4/10

My Heart Beat

Trust Crystal that sneaky bitch to release a digital single without any announcements or information or whatsoever (either that or I'm just blind) except for one puny CM which even I didn't watch. Universal ran out of budget for Crystal Kay so they couldn't afford to manufacture physical editions, do promo, or even hire anybody to do the single's cover art. The cover doesn't even have the single title on it. Nonetheless, My Heart Beat is still amazing - although I'm almost positive it's a leftover from VIVID, I'm glad this has a chance to see the light of day - it's a really funky, electronic, light number with some really orgasmic bass guitar noodling. Kaze no Kanata, on the other hand, is an R&B ballad with a really moving feel somewhere along the lines of Come Back To Me / Rising Sun from VIVID. Somehow I get a really Utada Hikaru feel off the melody and I love it. How more Japanese bought Perfume's latest single than this, I have no idea.